Reconciliation
by fandom-duty-honor
Summary: "Replacements will be found for both of you, and you will return to your respective cities and mentors until you are accepted into the League or you choose to leave. But remember, we do keep intricate records. We will remember if you can't play nicely." The two teens looked at one another, shock showing on both of their faces. Shit. Spitfire.
1. Chapter 1

She stood waiting with her arms across her chest, fuming mad. Pissed. Livid. The list went on.

Artemis and Wally didn't fight that often despite their rocky introduction. Sure they squabbled, but it usually ended with an eye-roll and some reluctant laughter. However, the few times they did go at it, they held nothing back. They yelled and name called. If only she had done that. He should have done this. The argument would continue until they found separate corners of the cave to cool off. Sooner or later she'd give an apologetic elbow in his side or he'd contritely flick her ponytail. She'd rub her temples, and he'd fight back a smile. Life went on.

Today was different, though. Usually there was something to actually fight about, but not that afternoon. Wally had been taunting her, and, as usual, Artemis would retort with some sass-ridden reply. They continued the pattern as they walked to meet the others for training when he said it.

"You're kind of a bitch, you know?" Wally started with a laugh.

"Beg pardon?" There was no way she had heard him correctly.

"I mean...I like you and all, but you're a total bitch. Like, no wonder G.A. dropped you off here after finding you." His voice was completely nonchalant, as if everything he was saying was a basic fact. A topic for everyday conversation.

Artemis had stopped walking. "And you're a bright ray of sunshine? Not to mention, you do not know_ anything _about why I'm here, or why I'm not when I go home. Thank you very much." This was ridiculous. Where had any of this even come from?

"I mean, sure I get annoying, but I don't take everything personally. Not everything has to be an argument. But since you're constantly on the rag, or the offensive, or whatever, it's not a mystery Spee - ahem - Red Arrow doesn't want to work with you. And who wants to babysit all day?" By now he had turned around to face her. Wally's face remained as innocent and unapologetic as it had been when the conversation started. Did he really not get that he was insulting her?

"Yeah," Artemis stormed passed him. "Coming from the guy who called me a bitch for seemingly no reason."

"Ugh! This is what I mean! If you wouldn't take everything so personally, people wouldn't hate you."

"Not. Now. Wallace." And that's how she found herself raging mad as training with Black Canary began. She couldn't even see straight. Kaldur and Conner started the session, but Artemis could only pretend to pay attention, running over the entire conversation again and again in her mind. What the hell even happened? It wasn't until a pair of fingers snapped in her line of vision that she was brought back to the present.

"Artemis, you and Kid are up - if you think you can concentrate," Black Canary said. Her voice was stern, but held a certain tone of worry. It wasn't often that Artemis would simply zone out.

"But who could blame her if she couldn't?" Kid asked, already standing on in the sparing ring. Artemis couldn't even bring herself to roll her eyes.

"Do I have to? We always spar." Her voice was heavy with anger and she hadn't bothered to uncross her arms. Another dose of Wally was the last thing she needed.

"The two of you are one for one when it comes to sparing. Until one of you pulls ahead, you'll just have to get used to each other's faces," replied Canary. There was a playful hint in her voice that Artemis easily identified as teasing. She sighed. Just another thing she didn't need.

Artemis made her way opposite Wally as she stepped into the ring. He got into a defensive position, readying for the fight. Usually she would have positioned herself in a defensive stance as well, but today just wasn't worth it. Fists clenched by her side, Artemis held her ground, her blue-grey eyes piercing into Wally's green.

"Begin!" Black Canary's voice rang out, but neither of them moved. Wally raised his eye brows and gave a taunting smirk, hoping to elicit some sort of response from her. Artemis remained still and narrowed her eyes.

"Have it your way then," Wally conceded though not unwillingly. He charged her, but didn't sprint to his full speed. Each hit was dodged with barely a bat of her eye. Her eyes never left his, but she still managed to take in every move. He had barely warmed up when she spotted it - an opening. She swung.

Contact. Right in the stomach. The hit sent him backwards, but he didn't fall. Determined to end the match as quickly as possible, Artemis turned, elbowing him in the center of the chest. The two heavy blows combined sent him tumbling. Her boot found his chest to keep him in place as the automated voice announced her victory. She turned to look at Canary. Her arms found their way back across her chest.

"Are we done?" Sure, it was rude and disrespectful, but at the moment Artemis really couldn't care. _All I want is to go for a run, or take a long shower, or take a nap. I do not want to be here._

Everyone else in the room looked between Kid Flash and Artemis. Most look concerned, although Conner's face was fairly impressed while Robin looked as though he were suppressing a laugh.

"Dude, what did you do this time?" Robin asked. His laughter was hardly contained.

"Ok. I think we're going to take a quick break." Black Canary attempted to ease the tension in the room. She turned to Wally and Artemis, who had yet to move. A faint wheezing could be heard from Wally after being knocked in the chest. "You two. With me."

* * *

Wally and Artemis stood by themselves in the briefing room as Black Canary talked silently with Batman. Artemis's eyes never left the mentors while Wally's fingers nervously snapped at an alarming rate. Not once did they look at each other.

At least, she never looked at him.

After what felt like ages, Batman and Black Canary made their way to the two younger heros. Neither looked very happy, but Artemis couldn't remember ever seeing The Batman smile. Black Canary wore a concerned expression that was much softer than the other's. Artemis's eyes went between the two. _This isn't going to be good._

"This childish feud ends here," Batman stated. It wasn't an inquiry of what was wrong or why they didn't get along all the time. It was a demand.

Artemis matched Batman's gaze. "There is nothing wrong here."

Black Canary cocked her head to the side. "Artemis, you knocked the wind out of Wally with two hits."

"Well the clearly the problem is with her." Wally hunched over and crossed his arms. His nervous snapping had subsided, but he had picked up tapping his toe.

"Clearly it's with both of you if you can illicit such a response out of her," Batman countered. Wally visibly shrank under Batman's glare. "This isn't just a problem between the two of you. When the two of you don't work together, the team can't work together."

"But we hardly fight! This was the first one is weeks!" Artemis felt the volume in her voice rise. Ok, so she didn't have the best handle on her temper, but who did. Really.

"However, when you do fight, you fight with everything you've got. You both explode emotionally, and it doesn't make for a stable team environment." Concern could be seen in Black Canary's eyes and she looked between Wally and Artemis.

"Fine. What do we have to do? More therapy session with you?" Artemis asked. It was easier to face Black Canary than it was Batman.

"You have two options. One. Temporary suspension. No Zeta privileges, and no access to the Cave or any other League properties. Any missions you would get would be small and given through your respective mentors. Cats in trees and stolen purses. Meanwhile you would have to sort _this_ out on your own time."

"What's option two?" Wally asked, clearly not liking the first one.

"Mandatory partner missions. No less than five, and you would be working together. Anytime you split up on a group mission, you go together, unless it's unadvisable. You would have individual "therapy" sessions as you called them until improvement is seen."

"And if that doesn't work?" Artemis asked.

"Simple," Batman replied. "Replacements will be found for both of you, and you will return to your respective cities and mentors until you are accepted into the League or you choose to leave. But remember, we do keep intricate records. We will remember if you can't play nicely."

Artemis felt her face morph to worry and Wally's incessant tapping ceased. The two teens looked at one another, shock showing on both of their faces.

_Shit._

* * *

**Haha! Hello, dear readers, and thanks for stopping by. This is going to be a side fic to work on when the words don't seem to flow for _Shop Girl. _Please enjoy.**

**And I guess if it makes a difference (it doesn't), all of the characters and cities, etc. are property of DC comics. **


	2. Chapter 2

Black Canary stared across the room at the two very bored looking teens. Wally sat with his legs hanging over the arm of the chair as he shoveled chips into his mouth. Artemis's arms found their usual position across her chest as she watched Wally with disgust.

"So," Dinah began. "Who wants to start?"

"I thought these were going to be individual sessions," Artemis said as she turned her eyes away from Wally. "What's with Kid Mouth?"

Wally mumbled something in agreement that was completely indistinguishable with his mouth still filled with food. The two women regarded him before Canary turned to look at Artemis.

"What did he say?"

"Something about he thought this was going to be your special alone time."

Wally finally swallowed with an audible gulp. "Thanks for the translation, babe."

"Don't call me that." She didn't turn her head, instead shaking it in frustration. "Why do we even have to do this?"

"We need some sort of starting point to gage your progress. I don't expect you to become best friends, but if we can prevent any future arguments such as this one, that's all we need. So, how did this all start?"

"He called a bitch." Artemis grabbed the bag of chips out of Wally's lap and stuffed a handful in her own mouth. He gaped at theft and quickly took his bag back, but not before distracting her with a gentle yank on her ponytail.

"You said that I was a garbage disposal!"

Artemis tried to retaliate, but he kept dodging, chuckling at her every missed slap. "You are a garbage disposal!"

Black Canary watched on in silence. The two bickered like school kids in puppy love, which was inevitably their problem. Still, they had to start somewhere. "Ok, ok. Now why did that upset you, Artemis?"

"He said "my bitchiness" was why Green Arrow didn't want to "babysit" me. Then he started going on about people hating me? I don't know," she replied using air quotes.

Dinah tried not to shoot Wally an accusatory look. That made much more sense than a high school crush. "Wally, why don't you go outside, and I'll start the private sessions with Artemis."

"Looks like another date was stolen right out from under you," Artemis taunted as he made his way to the door.

"I regret telling you that."

The two girls chuckled as he walked out the door. Black Canary turned to Artemis with a smile on her face. She just hoped she hadn't bitten off more than she could chew.

* * *

"So seriously. What did you do?" Robin's voice came out of seemingly nowhere causing Wally to jump. He looked down to find a familiar set of sunglasses staring back at him.

"What makes you think I did something?" Wally's hand instinctively went to his bag of chips only to find it empty. A dejected look crossed his face as he let out a soft whimper.

"Because you always do something. You do something. She retaliates."

"Not every time!"

Robin stood up and dusted off his pants. "Actually Kal and I started taking data. You either do or say something, albeit occasionally innocently, and she reacts. Or overreacts."

"Ha!" Wally pointed an accusatory finger. "Not always my fault."

"But you still know her buttons, dude. Better than the rest of us, anyways. You should know better."

"I don't like what you're insinuating..."

"The you're going to have to just bare with me until I can find a metaphor that doesn't use the phrase "sexual tension" or reference every sitcom ever written."

Wally had immediately turned around and groaned at the mention of sexual tension. Snickering could be heard as Robin hurried to catch up. The two headed down the hallway, neither really leading the other. By whatever happenstance, or Wally's natural instincts, they found themselves in the kitchen. Robin hopped up on the counter as Wally b-lined for the refrigerator.

"It's like, again, bear with me, when you're little and you like someone and want to play house with them. You act like you don't want to be the dad, but you only if so-and-so is the mom..." The young boy was gesturing wildly with his hands, but it was lost on his friend who was still head-first in the fridge.

"This is turning into a completely unwanted and different conversation," Wally sighed as he finally closed the fridge. His arms we filled with sodas, pudding cups, and the occasional apple. He nodded towards the living room and Robin followed.

"Fine, we'll leave that one for another day, but you can't deny that when it comes to closeness, Artemis is more comfortable with you, and that can be for whatever reason you want to tell yourself." He flopped down on the couch and adjusted his sunglasses.

"Uh-huh. And what about Megs and Zatanna? They seem close." Wally arranged the snacks on the table before them.

"Duh. They're girls, but when it comes to who knows her buttons and what to do when she's feeling down, you're the man to ask." Dick adopted an impish grin before grabbing an apple. It was really annoying how right this kid could be.

* * *

"Alright," Dinah said as she turned back to Artemis, "where do you want to start?"

"How long do we have to do this?" Artemis asked. She brought her legs up off the floor and crossed them in her chair. Her elbows sat on her knees and she placed her chin in her hands, meeting Dinah's eyes.

"Today? Until we get a stopping point. We could start with what Wally said to you earlier. About Green Arrow babysitting you? Why was that so upsetting?"

Artemis's eyes never left Black Canary's and held them there. The starring lasted a few moments before she broke.

"How much do you know? Exactly." she asked, her posture straightening.

"The same as I've always known - just what's available to the League." Her eyes softened. "And you know we don't think any less of you for it."

Artemis scoffed. "Thanks, I appreciate it." Her words were heavy with sarcasm, but still retained some truth. "But you can see why that's hurt, right? I've already unwillingly bounced from parent to parent, and when I was with...dad, it was hardly stable." Referring to him as "dad" was one of the harder things Artemis had ever done. It was never an enjoyable subject. "He'd usually order a pizza and leave for days at a time. Any time I was allowed the honor of training, it was usually with someone else." She sighed as she felt the emotional floodgates open. "Then Jade left as soon as she could because she didn't want to "babysit"...And I swear, if I start crying during one of these sessions, I will flip over a table." She huffed, her legs hitting the floor and arms crossing at the same time. "What?"

Black Canary smiled. "It's ok to cry every once and a while, and if you're worried about what the rest of the team would say, I'll personally make sure none of them know."

Artemis scowled at the ceiling, daring her tears to form. "It's just_ the last_ thing I need him making fun of me for."

"I assume you mean Wally? He was the one you were most worried about after the Failsafe mission, too."

"I don't like what you're insinuating," Artemis replied with a narrowing of her eyes.

"I'm not insinuating anything. Only stating an observation." The two held one another's gaze for some time until Artemis once again broke the silence.

"Can I go now?"

Black Canary sighed as she leaned back into her seat. "Fine. I think Batman might have a mission for you and Wally, anyways." Artemis sat up and headed for the door. "Oh, and Artemis? Maybe think about why you haven't told them yet. About your family, that is."

"Yeah, sure." Artemis dismissed the thought as she left the room, leaving Dinah alone to shake her head in mild frustration. This was definitely going to be harder than she thought.

* * *

**Hastily made Chapter 2. I had hoped to post this earlier, but who knew headaches made it harder to write?! Please enjoy :D**

**::disclaimer, disclaimer::**


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